Best Music of October, 2008: "Droppin’ Science Fiction," by The Mighty Underdogs

Why it’s significant: Because all 15 tight tracks on the hip-hop supergroup’s debut album will work your head and shake your hips, reminding you why you fell for beats and rhymes like these so many years ago. The album is a virtual “who’s who” of independent hip-hop featuring Lateef the Truth Speaker (Latryx), The Gift of Gab (Blackalicious), and producer Headnodic, with special appearances by other heavy-hitters like DJ Shadow, Mr. Lif, Damian "JR Gong” Marley, and MF Doom.

One listen through this bad boy and it becomes clear to me that hip-hop is alive and well. You may ask how I could have ever wondered in the first place, but the truth is it has been quite a while since I’ve heard a well-balanced, experimental hip-hop record like Tribe Called Quest, the Pharcyde and De La Soul used to make. From the first track on Droppin’ Science Fiction, The Mighty Underdogs have my head bobbin’ and my shoulders rockin’. When track 2 calls out “Ladies! Fellas! Everybody! Come on, throw your hands in the air!” the beats are so compelling it’s all I can do not to throw ‘em up right here at my computer. 

But as much as I love a good party record that moves the body, this particular album has a depth that also moves the mind. Track 3, “So Sad,” featuring Julian and Damian Marley, addresses the harsh realities facing those stuck in lives of poverty. The song sets a somber tone that leads seamlessly into “Gun Fight” (featuring MF Doom), which likens street fighting in our gun-toting generation to the madness of the wild west. Though heavy subject matter peppers the whole album, the master craftsmen behind it know how to educate and celebrate with equal skill. Tracks 5 and 7, “Ill Vacation” and “Laughing at You,” are just a few of the celebratory tracks perfectly sequenced to balance the scales and bring humor to the beat-driven conversation.

From Aesop Rock and Mr. Lif, to Dizzee Rascal and Del the Funky Homosapien, New York’s Def Jux Records has been home to a lot of strong hip-hop over the years. But The Mighty Underdogs have made an album that will no doubt turn the spotlight to the label again, and may well start a revival amongst hip-hop fans like myself who were starting to fear the genre was nothing more than a long lost love.

Watch a video for "Gun Fight":

--Shelby Earl

Comments

[solesides on October 06, 2008 at 06:28 AM]

Nice review,
thanks for that

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